Performance Testing

Please refer to this dedicated test setup page as it applies to this review as well.


Corsair rates the RPM range of the iCUE LINK RX120 RGB as 400 to 2100 RPM. Of course there will be variations between samples, and airflow resistances will play a big role, too. The provided samples went from an average 2118 RPM at 100% PWM down to 303 RPM at 20%, following which the fans hit zero RPM mode—you can't manually trigger it—and turn off. This is great for anyone wanting a quiet system and the fans reliably turn on and off too. The end result is a large active control range of 20-100% with a zero RPM mode and the overall RPM range is more than long enough for PC cooling use, especially since the RPM response curve is quite linear within the control range you have, which makes it easy to set custom fan control curves. I was also very impressed with the minimal sample variation on hand given this is a randomly picked retail unit. Context is needed to talk more about the fan's relative performance and noise, so I have comparison charts below for some fans tested at set RPM values, or as near as they can get to those.


The charts above help put the Corsair iCUE LINK RX120 RGB fan in better context with the chosen RPM values reflecting usage scenarios most popular with watercooling, although some fans go higher as is the case here. The charts are to be considered for comparison within this result set only and are not to be compared with results from another test elsewhere owing to different testing conditions. Note that these are average values for all samples of each fan and do not reflect any sample variation, and I also suggest looking at RGB fans separately from the others given they tend to sacrifice some performance by having LEDs take up space where longer rotor blades could have been pushing more air through. This is a very interesting fan which seems to go from low airflow, and thus low associated airflow noise, at lower fan speeds to the other side of the spectrum when spinning faster. Perhaps this is from the stator vanes working ideally past a certain fan speed? Regardless, the iCUE Link RX120 scales tremendously with fan speed to where you can have it be a very quiet fan at idle conditions and then push a lot of air through the radiator when needed.


Instead of having CFM/dBA charts that can potentially be taken for more than they really offer, I am going to show three other fans as a comparison for further context. These include the subject of this review—the Corsair iCUE LINK RX120 RGB—in addition to three other RGB fans including the obvious comparison of the Corsair iCUE Link QX120 RGB, the Thermaltake SWAFAN 12 RGB, and the Seasonic MagFlow ARGB. The iCUE Link QX120 RGB, as with a few other RGB fans, goes far down the RGB rabbit hole and ends up prioritizing aesthetics over pure performance. The other three, including the iCUE Link RX120 RGB do better in this regard. In fact, knowing that the Seasonic offering uses an LCP rotor too, the Corsair offering hangs in quite well from a performance to noise basis. Good job, Corsair!